Villar visited Houston to see his girlfriend at the time and went to a local park to workout and stay in game shape. He had just finished a season with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds shortly after graduating from Penn State.

He wound up meeting some local soccer players who were playing a pick-up game in the park.

“I played a little bit with them, they said I could do this Futbolito thing and split the money with them,” Villar said. “I said, ‘Yeah, I’m not doing anything’.”

Villar and his three impromptu teammates played in 7 matches in one day, winning each one – including the title match.

“We had no subs, it was just four of us,” Villar said. “It was competitive, little short games. Short-sided, small goals.”

Villar remembers the prize money being $500-$700 per person. It wound up being incredibly important cash on hand for him.

He had been waiting for a call from an overseas team to come over and play. A week after winning Futbolito, he got the call.

The money he won was used to buy a one-way plane ticket to Germany.

“It was funny, it was a time in my life where I was almost going away from soccer for good. Not that because of winning I stayed [with soccer]. But I played, took the cash and went to Germany,” Villar said.